Thursday, August 27, 2009

Pablo drew faces a lot. This is one of our favorite pages of Pablo artwork. If you look at all the faces, each one is different. Each one shows a different shade of emotion. I've looked at these for long periods of time, and I'm convinced Pablo was onto something with this facial study.

Rory Wilson at Dangerbird—the man who effortlessly designed the Pablove P-Heart logo—made a wallpaper out of Pablo's faces. Then the wallpaper was worked into the cycling kit—ie, the spandex clothing that non-cyclists love to make fun of—for the Pablove Across America ride. Click on this image of the gloves and you'll see what I'm talkin bout.

The clothing is being made in Italy and will be here first week of October. Can't wait to hold this stuff in my hands. For now, I look at the designs every day on my computer. The thing I love looking at the most are Pablo's drawings embedded into the garment designs. The detail on the rest of the kit is kinda hard to see, but the below panel gives you a general idea of how the overall kit looks.

The cap and gloves would have been Pablo's faves. As you know, he loved a comfy cycling cap. And he loved wearing cycling gloves. He and I used to buy size small women's gloves for him. We'd crank the Velcro extra tight on the tops of his wrists. Then we'd pedal like hell as fast as we could and Pablo would scream with joy and squeal with laughter. Which is exactly what I'm gonna do every day as we cross the country in his honor.

Weaving Pablo's faces into the Pablove cycling kit is my way of taking him with me when I ride my bike. I always wanted climb mountains on two wheels with Pablo beside me. Today, I can do it with Pablo in my heart, and covering my skin. Not the first draft of my dream. Today, it's the final—and only—draft, and I'll t a k e it!

I just want you to know that thanks to your writing style, your Pablo has become so real to me that my heart ached when I saw my 6-year-old cousin Tanner last weekend. We were eating at the Cheesecake Factory and I just looked at him and thought, my goodness, he's the same age that Pablo was, and my heart ached. I did not know Pablo and I do not know you, but I miss him in a strange sort of way, and my eyes zero in whenever I saw a butterfly in my vicinity. It's weird how people all over the world can love your precious boy, even if (in my case) they never even made his acquaintance. I'm not sure how I stumbled across your blog, but I'm glad I did. Rest in peace, Pablo.

I just wanted to know your son spirit has touched me. I do not know you and your family but will pray for your strength through this difficult journey. I found your blog through a posting on Thomas Hearne's site. I feel a connection with Pablo not from your words but also from a mother of a 6 year old. Pablo would be 3 weeks older than my Luke. I Love the cycling jersey. I can not wait to buy one. I would also love to ride in the Pablo ride. My husband and I are big cycling fans and ride when we can and are also teaching our sons about cycling. Our 6 year old, Luke, loves watching the Le Tour and also had a blast with his Mammoth Ski Cowbell as we watched the rider climb up Angeles Crest at the Tour of California this year. As they say for the Tour - Vive Le Pablo.